Day of Darkness
by Moonbeam7
Summary: A young Initiate's view of when the Temple begins to fall, and the Sith are attacking...


(I co-wrote this story with my friend Keerow one day, with nothing else to do. so, instinctively, we turned to fan fic.)  
  
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A long time ago the Temple was silent. I remember it. I was very little. But I remember a time when the whispers weren't there.  
  
The whispers of the evil.  
  
The Masters talk about it. I've heard them. They don't talk in front of us, but I can hear them anyway. Even if they never said anything, I think I would know. We all would. The Temple whispers the thoughts of the evil to me, to all of us. I can hear it. I tried to tell the Masters, but they didn't understand me. They thought I was pretending. They don't think that it's possible for us to know about the evil.  
  
But the evil is everywhere. I can feel it. And the whispers never go away anymore. They started softly, soft whispers, but now they are loud. The Darkness is growing. the Darkness is growing.  
  
.The Sith have risen again.  
  
I didn't even know who the Sith were the first time. I don't think that any of us did. I knew that the whispers were true the first time the Masters told us about the Sith. The Dark ones.  
  
The whispers are about the Sith. I think that maybe the stories scare the younger ones, but I'm not afraid. I'm brave. Even though the whispers from the Temple are growing louder and I know that it means that the Sith are getting nearer and nearer to us, and that soon something terrible is going to happen, I know that I have to be brave.  
  
But the Sith will never actually come here. I don't believe they actually could. The Temple will never be Dark. The Masters will protect us. The Masters can stop anyone.  
  
But the whispers don't agree. They say the Temple will fall.  
  
We've started doing funny things in class. I don't know why. The Masters say that it's important for us to know these things now. We have more sparring classes and less meditation. Sometimes they show us places to hide. The younger ones think it's a game, but the Masters call it a drill. They say we might need to know where to hide someday.  
  
But there's no one in the Temple I'd need to hide from. I don't tell the Masters that. They look so grave and quiet, running around, and all of them are worried. I can tell. They tap their fingers and talk about things. They think that we can't hear them.  
  
.The Sith are coming.  
  
It's silly to say that the Sith have come back. What is a Sith against a Jedi? Jedi can't die. I know that. None of the Masters could ever be killed.  
  
The Council meetings run longer now. Sometimes my legs get tired waiting, if I'm delivering a message to them, but I don't tell anyone. I'm a Jedi. We don't think about pain. And sometimes, I see a sad-eyed man. They say he lost his Padawan. I don't understand. Did his Padawan die?  
  
No! Jedi can't die.  
  
He looks so lost. I talked to him once, but I don't think he knew I was there. He doesn't look at anyone or anything. I hear him talk to the Council, but that's it. He says little words- little sentences. Some of the Masters frown at him. They say things are his fault. They say he's guilty, that he shouldn't be a Jedi, but I don't know what he did wrong.  
  
It's not his fault he lost his Padawan.  
  
Then it happened. I was with my friends, playing by the waterfall. There was a Master looking after us. There was always a Master looking after us since the whispers started. We stopped playing suddenly. The whisper was loud, like rocks grating down on my ears. Couldn't the Master hear it? I think he could. He was looking out. The whisper was so loud!  
  
.The Sith have come.  
  
The lights began to flicker and some of us screamed. Not me. I am not afraid of the Dark. The Master looked afraid as he hurried us away, into the hallway. He tried to tell us that everything was all right, but none of us believed him. How could we?  
  
.The Sith are here! They are here!  
  
Panic was everywhere. Jedi were running around the corridors. There were lightsabers drawn. But why? They were not sparring. And Jedi do not ignite their lightsabers outside of training unless.  
  
.They are prepared to die.  
  
I'm not afraid. I can't be afraid. I have to be brave for the younger ones.  
  
The Master tells us that we have to hide, we have to hide just like we did in the drills. He tries to pretend that this is just another drill, but we all know it's not. This is real. The whispers are so loud that how can I call them whispers? They are screams. Screams of horror and Darkness, and I think that the Master hears them.  
  
He is afraid. Why? Why should he be afraid? I'm not, even though I think that, this one time, perhaps I should be.  
  
The younger ones are crying. I can hear the whispers screaming and I can hear Jedi screaming. Why? I don't understand. The Master looks ready to cry, as well. He gasps suddenly and almost falls to his knees. Somehow, I almost know what has happened. I hear him scream "Padawan!" and I know that his Padawan is lost, too.  
  
The sad-eyed Master comes in. His lightsaber is ignited and he looks tired. He says something to our Master and then they both look sad. And scared. And I know what has happened.  
  
The Lost Padawan has returned.  
  
.The Sith have returned.  
  
I don't understand the whispers. We hide in a compartment underneath the floor. It's one-way transparisteel. We can see out, and no one can see us. I don't think the Master is very happy. He tells us to trust the Force and close our eyes, and then he leaves, warning us that we must be silent. So silent.  
  
I don't close my eyes. I'm not afraid.  
  
There are noises and whispers and screams. I hear footsteps hit the floor above us, and I think I hear a man scream. He's crying. One of the youngest ones throws up, but we are otherwise silent. Someone is squeezing my hand.  
  
I see the sad-eyed Master. He's standing right above us, with another man. One that I don't know. There's someone else too. He feels. wrong. Bad. The Masters have blue lightsabers, Jedi lightsabers, but the other one has a red lightsaber. He's not that old. not quite as old as the sad Master, but he's Dark. I can feel his Darkness. It's like being close to a volcano. He hates the sad Master. They're all fighting now.  
  
I don't understand! Why are so many people dying?  
  
I want to close my eyes, but I can't now. The man with the sad-eyed Master falls suddenly, and he rolls over top of the transparisteel, his face pressed against it. His eyes are clouded. I start to cry. He's dead! He's dead, but Jedi can't die! I can't see well for the tears.  
  
The sad Master and the Sith keep on fighting. They are talking, but I can't hear it. Suddenly, the Master is hit. He falls down, but I don't think he's dead. He slashes at the Sith, and the Sith begins to laugh. His laugh is cold and hard and cruel and I start to scream.  
  
I forgot that the Master told us to be quiet.  
  
The Sith knows we're here. He waves his hand, and the sad Master falls back against the wall. I think the Master's sleeping. The Sith is still laughing, and the transparisteel blows up. Some of us don't notice at first, but then his hand reached down. He pulled up one of my friends.  
  
I hear screaming.  
  
I close my eyes now and start to cry. I don't want to see what's happening. I feel a hand on my throat suddenly, and I come upwards.  
  
I want to open my eyes, I want to be brave. But I can't. I can't at all. It's hard to breathe because the Sith's glove is tight on my throat. I try to talk, I try to comfort the younger ones, but I can't. I can't.  
  
.The Sith have returned.  
  
.The Darkness will conquer.  
  
I'm a Jedi! I will be brave, I will be. I'm going to be a Padawan and then a Knight and then a Master and help the others. The Sith can't defeat us.  
  
But I can't open my eyes. And I don't even want to.  
  
I'm afraid. 


End file.
